Support for awning-tops.



M. DOWLIN.

SUPPORT FOR AWNING TOPS.

APPLICATION man APR. 14. I915.

1,162,582, Patented Nov. 30, 1915.

WITNESSES:

36' BY&@

A TTOR/VEVS C LUMEIA PLANOGRAPH co.. WASHINGTON. D. c,

MORRIS DOWLIN, OF HENNIKEB, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

SUPPORT FOR AWNING-TOPS.

Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented Nov. 39, 1915.

Continuation of application Serial No. 862,174, filed September 17, 1914. This application filed April 14,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Mourns Downin, a. citizen of the United States, and a resident of Henniker, in the county of Merrimack and State of New Hampshire, have invented a new and Improved Support for Awning- Tops, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to awning supports and has particular reference to appliances for hanging awnings to or removing the same from a building with the minimum amount of trouble and expense of time and without the necessity for using any tools whatever.

Among the objects of the invention is to improve the facilities for hanging the top of an awning, the lower or bail portion of the awning being supported by any suitable means, preferably of the type set forth in my Patent No. 1,149,036 of August 3, 1915, issued on an application filed September 17, 1914, of which this is a continuation.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will hereinafter be more fully clescribed and claimed and illustratedin the drawings forming a part of this specification. in which'like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and in which' Figure 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the invention, indicating an awning supported by the improved devices; Fig. 2 is a front eleva tion of the supporting devices; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a modified form of locking end of the supporting rod; Fig. 4 is a view looking toward the left in Fig. 3.; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of another modification of supporting rod and connections therefor; and Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of a modified form of bracket.

The several parts of this device may be made of any suitable materials, and the relative sizes and proportions of the same, as well as the general design of the mechanism, may bevaried to a considerable extent without departing from the spirit of the invention hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

The awning canopy 10 of any suitable form or construction is provided at its upper horizontal edge with a hem or loop 10 for the accommodation of the supporting rod 11. The main supporting means for the Serial no. 21,274.

and detachably connected to brackets B in the manner fully set forth and claimed in my previous application above referred to. Suffice it to say inthis instance, therefore, that when the awning is to be hung, the connection is made between the bails and the brackets 13, and then the awning is swung upwardly and outwardly, bringing the hem portion 10 thereof with the rod 11 into po sition for connection with the brackets 12 and 13. When the rod 11 is secured, disconnection of the bail from the brackets cannot take place.

Referring now more particularly to the structure illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, it will be noted that the rod is provided with lugs or enlargements 1 L adjacent its ends but slightly spaced therefrom and over which the ends of the loop of the awning are tacked as shown at 15, thereby insuring that the awning will be held in smooth stretched condition on the rod under all conditions. When the rod is elevated, the straight end thereof is slipped freely through the hole in the bracket 12 until the enlargement 1 lstrikes against the bracket. At this time the looped end' 18 is brought within the bracket 13 in position to be slipped through the elongated hole 13 thereof. The rod at the end 16, as indicated, is bent closely upon itself for engagement in the hole 13. T he shorter end of the rod indicated at 17 is then bent outwardly from the main portion of the rod, forming a lockinglever. The position of this lever with respect to the main portion of the rod may vary somewhat in diiferent forms, but in the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2 it is directed substantially parallel and in spaced relation to the rod 11 and terminating in a short right angularly turned hook 18 adapted to spring into bracket 19 very similar to the bracket 12, but arranged with its perforated flange in a horizontal direction and below the rod 11. It will be understood, therefore, that the brackets 12, 13 and 19 will be secured rigidly and permanently to the window frame or its equiva lent, and when the rod 11 is slipped into the brackets 12 and 13, as already described, the weight of the awning will be borne reliably thereby. The primary function of the bracket 19 is simply to lock the rod 11 from displacement with respect to the brackets 12 and 13. IVhen the hook 18 is snapped into the bracket 1"), endwise moveinent of the rod in either direction is positively resisted thereby and hence it will be both held in predetermined position and from rattling. As a further precaution, however, against disconnection of the rod from the brackets, a simple form of spring ring 20 of a nature easily manipulated without the use of tools may be slipped through a hole in the hook 18.

Vhile I show and describe the lever 17 as being parallel to the rod 11, in practice I prefer that the normal shape of the supporting rod with respect to the lever be such that but for the weight of the awning upon the rod 11, it would tend to assume an upwardly bowed shape as indicated in an exaggerated form in Fig. 2 by dotted lines, when the lever is hooked in the bracket 19. While the weight of the awning may tend to cause the rod to sag below the horizontal, the form of the rod, as just stated, will resist such tendency, and because of the bracing effect of the lever and the upward bowing of the rod, the awning will be maintained in a positively level condition or else slightly upwardly bowed. T 0 remove the awning from the fixed brackets, it is only necessary for the spring ring 20 or equivalent cotter pin to be lifted from the hook 18, leaving the lever 17 free to be sprung by the operator out of the bracket 19. It will be understood that the elongated hole 13 will be large enough to permit sufficient rotation of the rod inits bearings to allow the hook 18 to swing outwardly clear of the bracket 19, and at such time the rod may be freely slipped to the left to disconnect the end 16 from the bracket 13 and then again to the right to remove it from the bracket 12, a very simple and easy operation.

Instead of the bracket 13 with a closed eye, I may employ a bracket 21 with an open-topped eye or hook 22 for cooperation with an open bend 16 of the rod 11. By arranging the rod in position for the lever to extend beneath the hook 22, upward displacement of the rod will be thus prevented when the parts are in locking position. The hook furthermore will prevent displacement to the left, and the locking means for the lever will prevent movement to the right. The upper end of the hook furthermore will prevent forward or outward displacement of the rod with respect to the window frame,

and hence in this form of bracket provision is made for preventing movement of the rod in any direction when it is fixed in final position. Obviously this form of bracket and loop 16 cooperating therewith might be employed with the lever portion of the device substantially as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, but to indicate another of many ways in which the invention may be carried out successively, I indicate in Figs. 3 and 4 a lever bent downwardly substantially at a right angle to the main portion of the rod and made to snap into place between the lips of a bracket 19 secured in fixed position to the side of a Window frame. The arched effect of the rod above described may obviously be carried out in this form of the locking devices also. The lever 17 may be locked positively in the bracket 19 by a keeper 20 passing through alined holes 19 of the bracket 19. 1

For extremely wide awnings, I find it desirable at times. to employ one or more intermediate supports for the rod. Such a support is indicated at 23 in Fig. 5 and having an eye 24 for receiving the middle portion'of the rod 11. Preferring, as above indicated, to employ the enlargement 14 for positively securing the ends of the loop 10 of the awning in smooth position, the eye 24 may be left in the form of an open hook and with a slight space 10 formed in the awning for accommodation thereof. The main bracket for the ends of the rod may both be substantially the same or duplicates of the bracket 12 above described, and in stead of making the loop or turn upon one end of the rod for a lever connection, I may rely upon a shoulder 25 upon one end of the rod adjacent one of the brackets to prevent movement in one direction, and by the use of a spring ring 20 through a hole in the end of the rod, movement in the other direction will be prevented. An awning support in this form may be put in place as follows: With the upper end of the awning elevated, the left hand free end of the rod is slipped freely through the bracket 12 and then the shouldered end is slipped into place with the shoulder 25 against the other bracket, where it will be locked by the keeper 20. The middle portion of the rod may then be lifted and snapped into the eye 24 of the bracket 23, completing the operation. v

The bracket 13 of Fig. 6 is very similar in form and use to the bracket 13 shown in Figs. 1 and 2, except that in lieu of the elliptical hole for the looped end 16 of the rod, I form an open-front slot 13 the opening being below a downwardly projecting hook 13. In the use 10f this bracket the rod 11, when projected into the bracket 12 to the required distance, may be edged directly rearwardly into the slot 13 and thence upwardly by giving it a quarter rotation into final position where it will be held by the lever 17 when locked in the bracket 19 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character set forth, the combination with an awning and means connected to the lower portion thereof to support it, of a rod connected to the upper portion of the awning and a pair of brackets to support the rod in horizontal position, one of said brackets having a vertical ear through which one end of the rod passes, the other bracket having an opening in which the opposite end of the rod is secured, the latter mentioned end of the rod being bent into a crank extending in spaced relation to the main portion of the rod, and a keeper cooperating with the crank to pre vent all movement of the rod.

2. The combination with an awning, of a horizontal sustaining rod for the upper end of the awning, a pair of brackets for supporting the ends of the rod, one of said brackets having an ear through which one end of the rod is adapted to pass and the other bracket having an opening in which the other end portion of the rod is engaged, such end portion being bent into a loop for cooperation with its bracket whereby the rod is prevented from upward, downward and forward movement, and means cooperating with the bent end portion of the rod locking the same from rotation and end- 3. The combination with an awning, of means to support the top thereof, said supporting means comprising a pair of brackets having openings in the same horizontal line,

a rod connected to the awning and having its ends seated in said brackets, said rod hav ing means to prevent endwise displacement of the awning thereon, means cooperating with the rod and one of the brackets to prevent endwise movement of the rod, and means to prevent sagging of the middle portion of the rod under the weight of the awning. 7

4-. In an awning support, the combination of a pair of brackets having horizontally alined openings, one of the openings being elongated vertically, a rod slipped freely at one end through one bracket and being bent closely upon itself forming a loop at the other end fitted in said elongated opening, the bent end portion being thence bent in spaced relation to the main portion of the rod forming a locking lever, and a bracket cooperating with said lever to prevent all movement of the rod.

5. In an awning support, the combination of a pair of brackets having horizontally alined openings, one of the openings being elongated, a rod bent between its ends closely upon itself forming a loop fitted in the elongated opening, the end of the rod being bent thence away from the main portion of the rod and extending in spaced parallel relation thereto, and means cooperating with the latter mentioned end serving to prevent all displacement or movement of the rod and the sagging of the middle portion, substantially as set forth.

MORRIS DOVVLIN.

WVitnesses:

WVM. O. FoLsoM, H. H. DOWLIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, I). G. 

